Lithia sells 2 dealerships in New York

Lithia Motors Inc. last week divested two more dealerships that were part of Carbone Auto Group, a nine-store group it acquired in 2016.

Lithia on Oct. 28 sold Carbone Chevrolet in Yorkville and Carbone Buick-GMC of Utica, both in New York, to Brickl Cos., according to DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company, which handled the transaction. Brian Brown and Tony Karabon were brokers in the deal.

Brickl Cos. is led by CEO Jason Brickl, an Automotive News 40 Under 40 honoree in 2012. It has a number of businesses, including a dealership group now under the LeadCar name and Brickl Capital, a family office, according to its website.

The two New York dealerships have been renamed LeadCar Chevrolet Yorkville and LeadCar Buick-GMC Utica and mark LeadCar’s first dealerships in the state. LeadCar now has six dealerships in its portfolio, with two Toyota stores in Wisconsin, one Toyota store in Minnesota and an Audi dealership in Missouri, according to its website.

The New York dealerships are the third and fourth Carbone stores that Lithia has sold this year. On Oct. 5, it sold Carbone Nissan in Yorkville to Steet Ponte Auto Group, and it sold Carbone Hyundai, also in Yorkville, to Frank Mastrovito in May.

Lithia, of Medford, Ore., ranks No. 3 on Automotive News’ most recent list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 171,168 new vehicles in 2020. But Lithia’s April acquisition of Michigan’s Suburban Collection makes it the second-largest group going forward.